5G R17 freeze time postponed for another half a year: What is the reason? What is the impact?

After two uncertain postponements, the 5G R17 freeze time has finally been settled.

At 09:09 pm Beijing time on December 7, 2020, 3GPP decided to further postpone the freezing time of 5G's latest evolution version R17 by half a year, that is, the version protocol code will be frozen in June 2022.

Although the shoe has dropped, the reasons for the postponement of the 5G R17 freezing time and whether the postponement will have any impact on the industry have also become issues of concern to everyone.

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Postponed due to the epidemic

In fact, the postponement of the R17 freeze time is completely expected. Previously, Dr. Chen Peng, head of the 3GPP standardization team of China Telecom Research Institute, publicly stated that the 5G Rel-17 standardization work has been officially launched in the second quarter of this year, and the standard freeze is tentatively scheduled to be completed in September 2021, but there is a high possibility of postponement.

The 3GPP official website has also pointed out in several statements that the freeze of the R17 standard may be further delayed.

On July 3, the Release 16 specification was finalized at an online meeting, at which time it also moved the schedule for the subsequent Release 17 protocol to December 2021. Soon after, 3GPP stated in its latest statement that Release 17 was at risk of further suspension due to restrictions on on-site meetings.

On September 21, 3GPP officials said that the "freeze" date of Release 17 Stage 3 will be postponed, and the specific decision on the postponement date will be considered in December. At that time, 3GPP will decide whether Release 17 will be delayed by 3 months, 6 months or more.

In the statement, 3GPP also admitted that the freezing of the 5G R17 standard faces the risk of further suspension due to the restriction of on-site meetings due to the epidemic.

It is reported that due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, 3GPP canceled all offline meetings this year. The standardization meetings were changed from face-to-face meetings to meetings that mainly rely on email discussions and supplemented by telephone conferences. At the same time, the content of the meeting agenda was also reduced, and the overall work pace and promotion efficiency were affected.

"In face-to-face meetings, representatives from different countries can discuss issues face to face. However, in electronic meetings, it is difficult for representatives from different countries to discuss issues at the same time due to different time zones. Often, one representative asks a question, and it takes 6 to 8 hours for another representative to give feedback. Therefore, there are often overlapping issues and opinions, which delays the progress of standardization. At the same time, due to the limited time for telephone conferences and the different network speeds and conditions in different countries, there are often disconnections or unclear voices." Dr. Chen Peng said when talking about the reasons for the postponement of the R16 standard freeze.

It can be seen that the main reason for the postponement of the freezing time of the R17 standard is similar to that of R16, which is mainly affected by the continued impact of the new crown epidemic.

In addition, in order not to affect the overall progress of 5G, 3GPP has invested all its resources and efforts in the development of 5G R16, participating in email and telephone discussions 24 hours a day, and fully promoting related key topics to ensure the smooth completion of the overall 5G Rel-16 standard. This has correspondingly delayed the formulation of R17, which was supposed to start in early 2020.

Limited impact on the industry

Undoubtedly, the 5G standard is constantly evolving. The R16 version focuses more on URLLC, V2X, mobility enhancement, vertical network and other aspects, and further optimizes various performance indicators and improves the efficiency of existing functions based on Rel15. The functions of Rel-17 in the future will further enhance various indicators based on Rel-16.

Compared with the R16 standard, the R17 standard will cover vertical industry capabilities more comprehensively, further enhance basic capabilities such as edge computing and network slicing, and take into account issues such as user experience assurance and business models. The "integrated space and earth" communications that have attracted much attention recently, including the use of satellites, drones and other means to provide 5G connections, are likely to appear in the 5G R17 standard.

In addition, some experts also pointed out that 5G Rel-17, on the one hand, focuses on further enhancing the network and business capabilities based on the existing work of Rel-16, including multi-antenna technology, low latency and high reliability, industrial Internet, terminal energy saving, positioning and Internet of Vehicles technology; on the other hand, it also proposes some new business and capability requirements, including coverage enhancement, multicast broadcast, terminal direct communication for emergency communications and commercial applications, and multi-SIM terminal optimization.

It is not difficult to see that 5G Rel-17 plays a very important role. But at present, the standard time delay of 5G R17, what negative impact will it have on the development of 5G and the entire industry? From the current point of view, there will not be much negative impact.

On the one hand, after the R16 standard was frozen, 5G capabilities have become comprehensive. Whether it is communication manufacturers, telecom operators, terminal manufacturers, or application developers, there is no need to continue to wait and see. Based on the R16 version, they can achieve an upgrade from "usable" to "easy to use".

On the other hand, due to the postponement of R17 standards, the industry has to put more energy into the deployment and improvement of 5G technology based on R16, which will surely have a more robust effect on the construction of 5G. Compared with rushing to determine the R17 standards, the time delay will give 3GPP enough time to complete the standard formulation more perfectly, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the industry.

All in all, although it is a bit regrettable that the 5G R17 freezing time has been further postponed for half a year, there is still hope for the future.